For every dollar spent on healthcare-related fraud and abuse investigations in the last three years, the government recovered $7.90, according to a new report released by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. This is the highest three-year average return on investment in the 16-year history of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse (HCFAC) Program.

President Barack Obama re-nominated Marilyn Tavenner to be permanent administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She has been serving as acting administrator since December 2011, when Donald Berwick, MD, stepped down.

Among other efforts and on the heels of the release of the final privacy rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its final rule seeking to increase public awareness of financial relationships between drug and device manufacturers and certain healthcare providers.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is supporting much of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s proposed HIT safety plan, but its comment letter offers additional ideas to enhance or clarify some of the provisions.

Applications are now being accepted for round two of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program. Launched last year, the program recruits top innovators and entrepreneurs from the private sector for 6-12 month “tours of duty” in government to help develop innovative solutions in areas of national significance.

With the number of Medicare beneficiaries rapidly growing and more Americans qualifying for Medicaid and private insurance under healthcare reform, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is trying to align efforts in patient engagement with consumer e-health.

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) holds promise for improving the experiences of patients and staff and potentially for improving care processes, but current evidence is insufficient to determine the effects on clinical and most economic outcomes, based on a systematic review published Feb. 5 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

A new proposed rule calls for reforms to Medicare regulations identified as unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome on hospitals and healthcare providers that would save nearly $676 million annually, and $3.4 billion over five years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed rule supports President Barack Obama’s call on federal agencies to modify and streamline regulations on business.